Learn Hardcore Japanese: kanozyo ha tama ni itiba de zimoto no yasai wo kau. - She sometimes buys local vegetables at the market.

The particle は marks the topic of the sentence—what the sentence is about. Here, it sets up “as for her.” When used as a particle, は is pronounced “wa,” not “ha.” So 彼女は is read “kanojo wa.”

Could I use が instead of は here? What would change?

You could say 彼女が…, but it changes nuance. が marks the grammatical subject and often introduces or emphasizes new information, focusing on who does the action. は is better for general/habitual statements and contrasts. In this sentence, は sounds natural; 彼女が would suggest “she (as opposed to someone else) is the one who sometimes buys…”

Why is で used after 市場? Why not に?

で marks the place where an action occurs. 買う (to buy) is an action done at a location, so 市場で is correct. に would indicate destination/arrival (市場に行く = go to the market) or existence. You could say: 市場に地元の野菜を買いに行く (go to the market to buy local vegetables), but with 買う alone, use 市場で.

What exactly does たまに mean? How does it compare to ときどき, まれに, and たまたま?

たまに: “occasionally,” “once in a while.” Less frequent than ときどき; often implies it doesn’t happen very often.
ときどき: “sometimes,” more neutral frequency than たまに.
まれに: “rarely,” “seldom”—less frequent than たまに.
たまたま: “by chance/coincidentally,” not a frequency word. E.g., たまたま市場で彼女に会った (I happened to meet her at the market).

Can たまに go in other positions?

Yes. Common placements:

彼女はたまに市場で地元の野菜を買う。 (natural, default)
たまに彼女は市場で地元の野菜を買う。 (puts sentence-level focus on “occasionally”)
彼女は市場でたまに地元の野菜を買う。 (focuses the “occasionally” more tightly on the buying event at the market) All are grammatical. Early placement (right after the topic or at the very start) is most common.

Why is there に after たま? Is たまに one word?

Yes. たまに is an adverbial expression meaning “occasionally.” It’s normally written all together in kana: たまに. The に is not a separate location/time particle here; it’s part of the fixed adverb. You’ll also see たまには for “at least once in a while” (adds a slightly contrastive/urging nuance).

Can I write たまに in kanji?

It can be written as 偶に, but that’s uncommon. The standard, natural way is kana: たまに.

市場 is read いちば or しじょう? Which is right here?

Here it’s いちば, meaning a physical marketplace where you shop for produce. The reading しじょう refers to an economic market (e.g., stock market, labor market).

Why is の used after 地元? Is 地元 an adjective?

地元 is a noun meaning “one’s local area/hometown.” To modify another noun with it, you use の: 地元の野菜 = vegetables from the local area. You cannot use 地元な野菜. Predicate uses are possible with だ/です: ここは彼女の地元だ (This is her hometown).

Does 彼女 mean “she” or “girlfriend”?

Both, depending on context. In everyday conversation, 彼女 often implies “girlfriend.” Japanese also tends to omit pronouns when obvious from context. If you just mean “she” with no “girlfriend” nuance, it’s common to use a name, a role (e.g., 先生), or omit the subject altogether.

Why is the verb in plain form 買う? Should it be 買います or 買っている?

買う is the plain nonpast form, suitable for casual style and for stating habits/generics.
買います is the polite nonpast form; use it in polite contexts: 彼女はたまに…買います。
買っている is progressive/habitual. With たまに, 買っている can sound odd unless you’re emphasizing an ongoing pattern these days. For a simple habitual statement, 買う/買います is best.

Do Japanese write spaces between words like in the example?

No. Standard Japanese doesn’t use spaces between words. The natural writing is: 彼女はたまに市場で地元の野菜を買う。 Spaces are sometimes added in teaching materials to show word boundaries.

How do I pronounce を and the particle は?

を is pronounced “o” (not “wo”) in modern standard Japanese.
The particle は is pronounced “wa” (even though it’s written は).

Do Japanese nouns like 野菜 have plural forms?

No grammatical plural. 野菜 can mean “vegetable” or “vegetables” depending on context. If you need to be explicit, you can use counters or words like いくつか (some), たくさん (a lot), or 数種類の (several kinds of).

Can I express “rarely” or “only occasionally” more strongly?

Yes:

まれに市場で地元の野菜を買う。 (rarely)
たまにしか市場で地元の野菜を買わない。 (I only buy… once in a while = seldom) The pattern Xしか…ない means “only X (and nothing more).”

How would I say “buy [something] from [someone/shop] at the market”?

Use で for the place of action and から/に for the source: 市場で八百屋から地元の野菜を買う。

市場で = at the market (place of action)
八百屋から = from the greengrocer (source/seller) に can also mark the seller in this sense: 八百屋に地元の野菜を売ってもらう (have the greengrocer sell me local vegetables), though から is more straightforward for “from.”

Can I change the word order much in Japanese?

Modifiers must come before what they modify, and the verb typically comes last, but there is flexibility in the order of adverbials:

彼女は市場でたまに地元の野菜を買う。
彼女はたまに地元の野菜を市場で買う。 All are acceptable, with slight differences in focus. Keeping たまに early is most common and natural.